


Fractured Wings, Ragged Heart

by dixiehellcat



Series: Tony Stark Bingo Round 4 [7]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Canon Divergence - Iron Man 1, Gen, Inspired by a Trailer, Loki (Marvel) Does What He Wants, Loki has a heart, The Tesseract (Marvel), mentions of torture, wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-12 10:08:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28508700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dixiehellcat/pseuds/dixiehellcat
Summary: Inspired by the Loki series trailer, so, mild spoiler for a bit of it. Loki's escape with the Tesseract in Endgame ends in a desert, and he is not alone. His encounter there calls into question both space and time, and sparks ideas on several levels.Fills the "Tony/Loki" square on my Round 4 Tony Stark Bingo card number 4028. (required info collected below)!
Relationships: Pre-Loki/Tony Stark - Relationship
Series: Tony Stark Bingo Round 4 [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2009245
Comments: 6
Kudos: 45
Collections: Tony Stark Bingo Mark IV





	Fractured Wings, Ragged Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Bingo specifics:  
> Card Number: 4028  
> Square Filled (Letter AND number AND prompt): R4, Tony/Loki  
> Ship/Main Pairing: pre-Frostiron  
> Rating (Gen, Teen, Mature, Explicit): gen  
> Major Tags/Warnings/Triggers: Canon Divergence—Iron Man 1, Mention of Torture, The Tesseract, Inspired by a Trailer, Loki Does What He Wants, Loki Has A Heart, Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey Stuff, Canon Divergence--Endgame  
> Summary: Inspired by the Loki series trailer, so, mild spoiler for a bit of it. Loki's escape with the Tesseract in Endgame ends in a desert, and he is not alone. His encounter there calls into question both space and time, and sparks ideas on several levels.

The Tesseract dumped Loki in the middle of a desert. He spat out sand, clambered to his feet and dusted himself off. There was nothing but dunes and distant mountains as far as he could see, except for one hill that looked to be burning merrily. A bit of destruction did do a lot to liven up the desolation. With a flick of _seidr_ , he altered his clothing to sturdy, nondescript garb better suited for rough terrain, and stuffed the glowing blue cube in a pocket, which extended into a pocket dimension. Thus made more comfortable, he took a moment to try and determine where he was. The yellow sun blazing down led him to surmise he was still on Earth, and unless that conflagration he had spotted was his brother and his Avenger friends off target in seeking him, he was well out of their reach for the nonce. 

As he pondered his next move, his attention was caught by something in the air. It rose in a graceful arc from the heart of the blaze in the mountain, then faltered and plummeted to earth. The impact made him wince, and wonder what the object was; it could be anything from a misfired projectile to an escape pod. Either way, it seemed worth investigating, as it might win him a weapon to stash for later, or even, should he deploy some of his skills of smooth persuasion, an ally. Checking to make sure he had sufficient daggers concealed on his person within easy reach should the need arise, Loki headed that way.

His keen hearing picked up coughs before he saw any movement as he approached the crash site. Bits of metal were scattered around the epicenter, looking remarkably like pieces of a suit of armor discarded on a battlefield. Sure enough, the bulk of said suit was half-buried from the force of its landing, a silvery helmet and clad arm poking out of the shallow crater. As Loki paused out of abundance of caution, a second arm appeared and began to poke at the helmeted head. So some brave, or foolish (or both, most likely) warrior had either escaped a battle, or provoked one and then fled. Whichever was the case, they sounded like someone Loki might appreciate making the acquaintance of. “Hold, there, and I will aid you,” he called and crossed the short distance to settle beside the battered form. This close, he could see now that the head covering was more crude than he expected, and his curiosity was doubly piqued. Who could create a shell capable of taking flight, yet appearing this rough in its handiwork?

The answer, he saw when the helmet was hauled off, was one he should have guessed. “Tony Stark,” Loki said. It took a prodigious effort not to throw his hands up and groan aloud. How in all the nine realms had Stark tracked him so quickly—the last he had seen of the Iron Man, he had been lying gasping on the floor of his extravagant tower in some sort of fit of illness. It could have been a trick, Loki supposed, though it galled him to even think he, the god of tricks, had been bested by a mortal. His train of thought was derailed almost immediately, though, because the dark eyes that squinted up at him were wild with fear, rage, and grief, things he recognized all too easily; but one thing they did not hold was any trace of recognition.

That surprise made Loki scrutinize the face more closely and register what else was missing. Stark was handsome, strikingly so, one of the most attractive mortals Loki had met in his centuries of life, but his years showed in the fine wrinkles around his eyes, across his nose, and at the corners of his mouth. Loki recalled well observing him, when they had faced each other in the tower; Stark’s cocksure certainty made him even more appealing, had conjured thoughts of how pleasant it could be to, not break him, but turn him to Loki’s hand.

None of that could be seen now, or if it was there, it was drowned in darkness. Stark’s face was bloodied and bruised, but indisputably younger, unetched as yet by mortal age. Through the shreds of his thin garment, a circle of light, similar in hue to the artifact in Loki’s pocket, could be seen. It must be that odd device that had protected the Midgardian from the scepter Thanos had bestowed for Loki to lead the Chitauri in invading Earth; but the flesh he glimpsed around it was reddened and scabbed as though newly ravaged. It certainly wasn’t in the condition it had been during the battle in the Earth city of New York, something Stark could have borne casually without pain. Put it all together, and Loki had to wonder whether the Tesseract had not only hurled him across a planet, but somehow back in time.

“Military?” Stark rasped, his voice as shaky as his gloved hands, and he flinched when Loki went to reach for him, the reflexive recoil of one who had been brutalized. Loki knew that, too, when he saw it; forced aside his memories of his own treatment at Thanos’ hands, and refused to concede even to himself the hint of empathy and fellow-feeling rising within his heart. One victim of torture knew another, on an elemental level.

He smiled, a plan already coming together. Perhaps, through the inscrutable intervention of the Tesseract, he could evade recapture by the Mad Titan, make some mischief, and have some fun with Stark without having to hurl him out a window. “In a manner of speaking,” he said. “My name is Laufeyson, and I am here to help you.”

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't resist, after seeing the trailer for the Loki show; when I saw him crash in the desert and it evoked such vivid memories of Tony doing the same in his escape from the Ten Rings in IM1, my brain, freak that it is, instantly went 'what if it actually was the same place'. May be the start of something more, later, as 'Agent Laufeyson' accompanies the rescued billionaire, discovers where and when he is, and assembles some ideas, while drawing closer to Tony...


End file.
